Analysis Of The Historical, Social, And Cultural Context Of Hardys Short Stories Focusing Particularly On Tony Kytes The Arch Deceiver, Old Mrs Chundle And The Withered Arm.

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Analysis Of The Historical, Social, And Cultural Context Of Hardy’s Short Stories Focusing Particularly On “Tony Kytes The Arch Deceiver,” “Old Mrs Chundle” And “The Withered Arm.”  

All three of the above Thomas Hardy short stories are set in 1800s “Wessex” the name Hardy gave to that part of South-West England which includes: Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall Hampshire and Wiltshire. These three stories, “Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver,” “Old Mrs Chundle” and “The Withered Arm,” take place around Dorchester, which Hardy calls “Casterbridge.” Hardy based all these stories around the mid Nineteenth century.

In each of Hardy’s short stories the locations are very isolated and are cut off from the busy city towns and the rest of the World. Hardy’s upbringing was very similar as he lived in the quiet countryside. This sense of isolation can mainly be seen in “The Withered Arm.” Rhoda Brook and her son live in a lonely cottage away from busy day-to-day life. “Their course lay apart from that of the others, to a lonely spot high above the water meads.” Also in “Old Mrs Chundle,” it happens that she has lived at her cottage for thirty-five years and yet has not been to her nearest town Enckworth, only three miles away. “Why should I ever been to Enckworth.” Her journeys are only to the market and she only manages to do this once a fortnight!

Many of the journeys undertaken were short and quite rare. People only really travelled if it were necessary for them. Most travelled by foot even if they were travelling long or short distances. Rhoda Brook and Gertrude Lodge travelled to Conjurer Trendles’s house by foot. They had to cross the rough moorland of Egdon Heath and faced a threatening storm along the way.

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Whilst most travelled by foot others had a different means of travel. In “Tony Kytes The Arch Deceiver.” Tony himself travels to market by horse and cart to do some business for his father.As seen in “Tess of The D’urberville” the steam train is also used as a means of travel but very rarely as it had only just been invented.

Because Of the isolation of “Wessex” and being so cut off from other civilisation the dialect spoken would be hardly recognised in Nineteenth century London. “Old Mrs Chundle” shows the broad dialect very well. For example Mrs Chundle ...

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